Freeze date imminent... Option stress

[PeterNA]

Hi all,

Have a 4S ordered and freeze date is approaching. Have been playing with options and initially was thinking pretty low spec but have got to the mode where am thinking if spending so much, an option I 'want' to have should be ok, as I might regret it later - but then these all add up. I do plan on keeping the car for a considerable amount of time so I guess I also want to make sure I don't compromise on options that I will regret. Cost of these cars (particularly here in Australia) can definitely blow out - noting that for a 4S, our various government taxes and levy's are about $60k AUD - on top of the cost of the car!!!

Interested to hear opinions of others, whether regret for not purchasing, but importantly who have spec'd the below and either so glad they did, or perhaps think they could have done without it....

Definites / Decided:
Sport seats (18 way)
Window trims in gloss
Chrono
Sport Sound
Pano roof
Ambient Lighting
Taycan in black on rear
Elect charge cover

Still to finalise:

Colour - pretty much set on Ice Grey - could save $5k and go Carrara White but likely stick with Ice Grey as I think it's unique and I like it - plus my current car is white

Wheels - Don't love the option for the 20's so will be 21's. At this point, likely the RS Spyder wheels (and thinking in the future may get them painted black). I actually really like the look of the Exclusive Design wheels with the black blades - but think they look awesome from a distance, but a little awkward from close up - also worried about potential scratches with these as the edge of the black blades extends around the edge of the wheel. Interested in any experiences anyone has in this or general thoughts on the above.

Interior - Initially I was going to do the partial leather but on visiting dealer and comparing, I do think the full leather changes the whole interior feel of the car. I do love the Black / Crayon (thinking it may be referred to as something different in other countries but it it the whiter looking leather) but not sure if this may clash with the Ice Grey - not an issue if I was to go with the CWM exterior, but not being able to see this in person is making me nervous. Is there possibly anyone with (or someone who has seen) Ice Grey and the Black / Crayon interior? Interested in thoughts on this. This is an easy way to save over $8k though if I just go for the partial leather in black....

Rear Axle Steering - have seen so so many opinions on this, but it's not a cheap option here at $4,300. Thinking it's something I wont 'miss' if I don't have it in the first place but this is still undecided. Roads here in Sydney whilst pretty crappy from a pothole (and traffic!) point of view are pretty reasonable. Only thinking is it will help in tight shopping centres / driveways etc and help avoid possible wheel scratches.

Thermal & Noise Insulated Glass incl. Privacy - Again in two minds with so many opinions. At this stage leaning towards a no for this but also weighing up the cost of tinting as if the glass is darker and I wont need to tint the back windows and rear, then this may offset the price.

I know many of these come down to personal preference but as the date is fast approaching, interested to hear other people's view / thought process and then satisfaction of decisions post getting their cars.

Thanks!

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[laua]

RAS is great for parking in tight spots. My CT4S feels incredibly nimble at low speeds. Granted I haven’t driven one without RAS but it is very noticeable in tight spots. I haven’t noticed the benefit at speed, but my area is very congested so I rarely get up to sustained highway cruising speeds.

As for sport sound, I find it pretty useless. I specced it because I was worried an EV would be too quiet but it’s actually perfect without sport sound. With the sport sound on, it’s a bit too loud and feel a bit silly driving around with it. I do admit I’ve turned it on a few times when it’s quiet around as it does sound cool in an adolescent way. I wouldn’t pick it though if I could do it again.

I regretted getting the 20” turbo wheels; they don’t look as good as they do in photos. I’d probably go with the CF aero blades instead. Ideally there was something like the Aeroblades in a 20” size.

 

[W1NGE]

Hi all,

Have a 4S ordered and freeze date is approaching. Have been playing with options and initially was thinking pretty low spec but have got to the mode where am thinking if spending so much, an option I 'want' to have should be ok, as I might regret it later - but then these all add up. I do plan on keeping the car for a considerable amount of time so I guess I also want to make sure I don't compromise on options that I will regret. Cost of these cars (particularly here in Australia) can definitely blow out - noting that for a 4S, our various government taxes and levy's are about $60k AUD - on top of the cost of the car!!!

Interested to hear opinions of others, whether regret for not purchasing, but importantly who have spec'd the below and either so glad they did, or perhaps think they could have done without it....

Definites / Decided:
Sport seats (18 way)
Window trims in gloss
Chrono
Sport Sound
Pano roof
Ambient Lighting
Taycan in black on rear
Elect charge cover

Still to finalise:

Colour - pretty much set on Ice Grey - could save $5k and go Carrara White but likely stick with Ice Grey as I think it's unique and I like it - plus my current car is white

Wheels - Don't love the option for the 20's so will be 21's. At this point, likely the RS Spyder wheels (and thinking in the future may get them painted black). I actually really like the look of the Exclusive Design wheels with the black blades - but think they look awesome from a distance, but a little awkward from close up - also worried about potential scratches with these as the edge of the black blades extends around the edge of the wheel. Interested in any experiences anyone has in this or general thoughts on the above.

Interior - Initially I was going to do the partial leather but on visiting dealer and comparing, I do think the full leather changes the whole interior feel of the car. I do love the Black / Crayon (thinking it may be referred to as something different in other countries but it it the whiter looking leather) but not sure if this may clash with the Ice Grey - not an issue if I was to go with the CWM exterior, but not being able to see this in person is making me nervous. Is there possibly anyone with (or someone who has seen) Ice Grey and the Black / Crayon interior? Interested in thoughts on this. This is an easy way to save over $8k though if I just go for the partial leather in black....

Rear Axle Steering - have seen so so many opinions on this, but it's not a cheap option here at $4,300. Thinking it's something I wont 'miss' if I don't have it in the first place but this is still undecided. Roads here in Sydney whilst pretty crappy from a pothole (and traffic!) point of view are pretty reasonable. Only thinking is it will help in tight shopping centres / driveways etc and help avoid possible wheel scratches.

Thermal & Noise Insulated Glass incl. Privacy - Again in two minds with so many opinions. At this stage leaning towards a no for this but also weighing up the cost of tinting as if the glass is darker and I wont need to tint the back windows and rear, then this may offset the price.

I know many of these come down to personal preference but as the date is fast approaching, interested to hear other people's view / thought process and then satisfaction of decisions post getting their cars.

Thanks!

Electric Sport Sound - skip (gimmicky and tedious after a while)

Rear Axle Steering (with Power Steering Plus) - add

Black brush aluminium door treads - add

Racetex b-pillar - add (removes a lot of visible plastic

Black / crayon leather - add but not sure it goes well with either white or ice grey. Crayon seatbelts go well with this interior choice.

Bose - add

20" rims will give you more range, turbos look great

Air suspension and performance battery plus if not standard.

 

[PeterNA]

Thanks for the response. The aluminium door treads, bose and air suspension are all standard on the 4S here in Oz.

Interesting comment re the B Pillar - had never considered that and will look into it.

Local Porsche centre gave me a 4S for a weekend with the sport sound and whilst gimmicky, I thought it was fun, maybe im a little immature lol

 

[WuffvonTrips]

While I still maintain that RAS (which I have) benefits the handling more than tight manoeuvrability, and without it the Taycan is by no means a barge in either of those departments, I think that PSP is essential (so an additional cost if no RAS), and if I was going to draw on line on budget I'd put RAS above it at the expense of ESS and electric charge port cover (though to be honest I wouldn't want them anyway).

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Interesting comment re the B Pillar - had never considered that and will look into it.

It's only available if you have RaceTex roof lining.

 

[Hagar61]

i have RAS on my 4S and makes parking a breeze. I would also say the handling is more composed at speed over 100KM/Hr. Taycan is a wide and long car and as you know the parking spaces in Sydney are not wide, so parking with RAS less challenging. I have no regrets in adding RAS in my configuration.

 

[jonjon808]

My thoughts, from being a relatively new owner with just under 1,000 miles done (all down to personal choice as you say):

- Wheels. If you drive on crappy roads like you say, then 20” wheels might be a better choice.
- Interior. I went with black/atacoma with silver paint and was nervous about the choice as I hadn’t seen the combo. Love it though and the two tone really lifts the interior. With ice grey, and then crayon inside though they may be just similar tones, but look a bit disjointed together.

You can see my car just after a detail here

RAS: drove demonstrators with and without and definitely prefer with. Manoeuvres around a city and parking are so much easier

ESS and ECC: Prefer the looks without the electric charge cover (Plus the vent behind the front wheels is blocked off too). Test drove cars with and without ESS and got tired of the sound very quickly. Save some cash and bin both.

Privacy Glass: I’ve always had it, but thought it spoils the lines with the Taycan. I did go with the noise insulating.

As many have said before, once you actually get behind the wheel of your car, the anxiety of option choices will disappear and whatever decisions you have made, you won’t have a ‘bad’ Taycan.

 

[JuTheKi]

Some thoughts in your original text, here in Finland sick car taxes also but based on emissions for electric vehicles very very low.

I have driven 38.500 kilometers and 20 months with my almost full loaded CT4.

Air suspension, Bose and ventilated seats also, if not in order. Take much stuff, so you do not regret. I am missing also leather sunvisors more than Race Tex stuff.

Hi

Definites / Decided:
Sport seats (18 way) OR 14 way + massage, very happy with that
Window trims in gloss YES
Chrono YES
Sport Sound YES
Pano roof YES
Ambient Lighting YES

Taycan in black on rear YES
Elect charge cover YES

Still to finalise:

Colour - pretty much set on Ice Grey - could save $5k and go Carrara White but likely stick with Ice Grey as I think it's unique and I like it - plus my current car is white ICE GREY, I have had it for almost 2 years and it is still spectacular!

Interior - Initially I was going to do the partial leather but on visiting dealer and comparing, I do think the full leather changes the whole interior feel of the car. I do love the Black / Crayon (thinking it may be referred to as something different in other countries but it it the whiter looking leather) but not sure if this may clash with the Ice Grey - not an issue if I was to go with the CWM exterior, but not being able to see this in person is making me nervous. Is there possibly anyone with (or someone who has seen) Ice Grey and the Black / Crayon interior? Interested in thoughts on this. This is an easy way to save over $8k though if I just go for the partial leather in black.... BORDEAUX RED is awesome and I would take it all over again. Crayon also good. Take full leather.

Rear Axle Steering - have seen so so many opinions on this, but it's not a cheap option here at $4,300. Thinking it's something I wont 'miss' if I don't have it in the first place but this is still undecided. Roads here in Sydney whilst pretty crappy from a pothole (and traffic!) point of view are pretty reasonable. Only thinking is it will help in tight shopping centres / driveways etc and help avoid possible wheel scratches. RAS very happy with that every day, take it.

Thermal & Noise Insulated Glass incl. Privacy - Again in two minds with so many opinions. At this stage leaning towards a no for this but also weighing up the cost of tinting as if the glass is darker and I wont need to tint the back windows and rear, then this may offset the price. TAKE THEM.

 

[W1NGE]

Thanks for the response. The aluminium door treads, bose and air suspension are all standard on the 4S here in Oz.

Interesting comment re the B Pillar - had never considered that and will look into it.

Local Porsche centre gave me a 4S for a weekend with the sport sound and whilst gimmicky, I thought it was fun, maybe im a little immature lol

Black door treads (under aluminium in the configurator) - normally silver is standard on a 4S and black on a GTS.

I had a 4S for 2 years and now a GTS (a few months old now) - Race Tex is a nice finishing touch on the B-Pillar compared to the standard plastic.

Novelty of ESS will wear off rapidly. Standard on GTS and I don't use it (paid for it in my 4S and used it a couple of times and then swore never again..)

 

[SergeyIndy]

Hi Peter, recent owner with just a few weeks and just a few drives made.

Definites / Decided:

Sport seats (18 way) - Have 18 ways in the SUVs, 14 way seems better fit for the Taycan due to slimmer profile for looks, still very supportive, and easier to get in and out of given B pillar is too forward. Bonus, ability to option Massage seats that surprisingly work very well, but never had it in a car before.

Window trims in gloss - I decided to stay Silver, many reasons, but many dislike it.

Chrono - YES, this is the only way to get Sport Plus mode and Individual mode (useful since a lot of settings do not stay saved after restart) although, not as beneficial as it is in the SUVs with the 20 sec Sport Response button, so it is just a mode switcher after all.

Sport Sound - I do not like it if you are just cruising as it is just one tone and gets old pretty quickly, however, I do like it when accelerating, slowing down, or going slow with variable speed to hear the differences in tone.

Pano roof - I like it, although no Pano roof looks really cool from the outside, but inside you benefit from the no pillar panoramic view for passengers primarily, but I do look up when I am at stop lights and love it.

Ambient Lighting - I like it.

Taycan in black on rear - This was the best decision that I made as I planned to stay with Silver. The way the rear is shaped, the Silver will just not work on the Ice Grey.

Elect charge cover - I went for it, considering all pros and cons, in the end the looks and the cool effect of it were more important to me than function, which is the closure of the aerodynamic opening in the well, however, looking at the cd for Turbo that does not have it as standard vs. Turbo S that has it as standard is 0.01 so may be the impact is not so dramatic and prevents rocks from hitting the door paint.

RAS - I think this is a must have on this car since it is long and wide car than most with a 2-way benefit of low speed and high speed is priceless to me, given we have it on the Cayenne.

Glass - I understand we have Privacy as standard in the US, so cannot comment on this, but Thermal double pane glass was a must for me for several reasons, one the standard glass is very thin and flimsy on the frameless doors, so with double pane, door glass feels much more solid, then I do like that the double pane significantly reduces windshield glare, so having that and added 15% tint all around but the windshield (for max brightness view of the headlights at night) looks and feels perfect to me.

Colors - I have exactly the same combo Ice Grey with Black/Chalk and love it, so much so, that I brought the Exterior Color inside with the door accents. I have Chalk interior Cayenne and it comes with standard silver interior bits and it just goes together very well for me, but others may see a clash.

Wheels - The only comment I can make is that E Mission was a given to me because of the original concept and Ice Grey to me is the only color that looks good on them when they are painted to the exterior. Overall, this color looks more flat white in bright conditions that I love, and looks silvery in the cloudy conditions, which make it kind of stealthy. My decision was totally based on the look and not function.

I am happy to share more pictures and video of any specific looks, please PM me.

 

[Tighlines]

First of all, I can't wait to see the final product. I shared many of your dilemmas when I was spec'ing mine. I ended up checking all the performance boxes and went base on interior and exterior (wanted ice grey, went dolomite instead).
The only thing I would do different is the sport sound, the novelty wears off quickly.
In the end, the fact that you can afford this car means you probably won't be missing this money in a year or 5. Build the car you want, you won't regret it.

 

[vks]

I have rear axle steering (part of performance package) on my 4S. Would strongly recommend just as others here have.

My wife loves the electric sports sound. It came with the performance package but not sure I would have spec’d it on its own.

I have window trim in gloss black and definitely prefer the looks.

I have rear logo in chrome. In hindsight, I should have chosen black.

I went with the standard interior and think it’s great. Wouldn’t change that even if I had a second shot.

 

[MHC]

I have owned two Taycans - a 2020 turbo and now have a 2023 GTS sport turismo. I bought both of them as specked by dealer so not custom ordered. Had RWS on the turbo and not on the GTS . Both cars have power steering plus standard and I think you need that. I Didn’t really notice the difference of RWS in Daily driving but it is nice for u turns and parking. . Had 21 inch wheels on both cars and never had an issue with ride quality . Had 20 inch wheels for winter tires and noticed handling was not as sharp but ride quality was similar. Could be the softer winter tires. 21 inch wheels definitely look better . I Had black leather interior in both cars but love the black / chalk look. Leather upgrade was standard on both cars but not sure I would get it for all black interior. You notice it more in the lighter or two tone colors. Silver is my favorite color and I would take it over ice grey - especially if you get the side skirts and trim in high gloss black. 2020 turbo was dolomite silver with high gloss trim and it was stunning with mission e wheels. 2023 GTS color is chalk/Crayon exterior and it looks dull like cement . I have Sport sound on both cars but 2023 GTS sound is much better than 2020 turbo sound. 2020 turbo sound was like Star Wars soundtrack. 2023 GTS sound is more like a digital engine sound. Honestly most of the time I prefer no sound . - both cars came standard with noise insulating glass and the cars are very quiet. I would definitely get this option. Don’t waste money on passenger screen or rear screen - have them and rarely use them. Had sport crono on both but drive in normal mode 95 percent of the time . Folding mirrors are a must - didn’t have them on the turbo and regretted it many times , have them on the GTS and use them all the time . Electronic charge port is cool but you won’t notice the difference if you don’t have it. Didn’t have it on the turbo and now have it on the GTS - doesn’t really make a difference to me.

 

[Gra13]

Looks like you are spacing very similar to my 4S ST. Ice Grey looks great in the sun, I have gone with full black leather. I think the white also works well but I think you will regret if you go partial.
Not sure about RWS, I don’t have it and I don’t feel I miss it, the car handles amazing and parking isn’t an issue.
Sport sound a bit of fun and can help resale.
I sound have specs 360 Surround view, helps with parking.
I have the Gloss black window trims which look great with the Ice Grey.
Bose a must.

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